If you’re planning a Dubai morning desert safari, here’s exactly what to wear and bring based on my own experience.
When we traveled to the United Arab Emirates,
one thing I definitely didn’t want to skip was a desert safari.
Abu Dhabi has desert tours too,
but since we were staying in Dubai, that’s where we booked ours.
We reserved it on MyRealTrip the day before,
and there were quite a few companies and tour options to choose from.
Since every tour includes different things,
it’s worth comparing them carefully
and checking whether all the activities you really want are actually included.
We went with a company called OceanAir Travels,
and the morning tour was $29.95,
while the afternoon option was $46.75.
The activities included in both the morning and afternoon tours
were camel riding, dune bashing, and sandboarding for the most part.
If you choose the afternoon tour, you also get dinner
plus hand henna and traditional performances, things like that.
For us, the morning activities were more than enough,
so we booked the earliest morning slot.
Hotel pickup was roughly between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m.,and
since it was a shared group tour,
the exact pickup time depended on
where each guest was staying, so they confirmed it the night before.
They contacted us through WhatsApp,
so definitely download and set up WhatsApp before your trip.
Our pickup ended up being around 7:20 a.m.
We hurried through breakfast and headed out right on time,
and the pickup vehicle arrived exactly as scheduled.
It had OceanAir written on the car,
so we said hello and hopped in.
The vehicle was clean, cool, and comfortable.
There was already a guest from India in the car before us,
traveling solo, so he sat in the front passenger seat.
Then we picked up one more person on the way,
and he turned out to be a Korean guy.
We’d been hanging around the Downtown Dubai area the whole time,
so this was our first time heading far south.
Once you drive just a little outside central Dubai,
the scenery suddenly turns stark and empty.
It made me wonder if Downtown Dubai used to look like this too.
I loved watching the changing landscape on the way into the desert.
We arrived about 40 minutes after leaving the hotel.
I had expected it to take closer to an hour,
so I was happy it felt quicker than expected.
Once we got out of the car, we moved to a waiting area,
where there was water and other drinks available.
Since you can take drinks with you during the tour, definitely grab one.
There was also Arabic coffee set out nearby,
and you could just pour yourself a cup, though I didn’t try it.
Even though the room looked like a simple container setup,
it still had electrical outlets, though we didn’t use them.
There were separate restrooms outside too,
and surprisingly, they were very clean.
I forgot our guide’s name,
but he was friendly in that easy, low-key way I liked.
There had been an ATV option when we booked the tour,
and apparently none of the four people in our group added it.
Still, I guess the guide had to try to upsell a little,
so he asked a few times if we wanted to do a 4-wheel drive ride.
Once he realized none of us were interested, he dropped it.
He told us to come back to the car in 10 minutes,
so while we were hanging out in the shade, I spotted a bird of prey nearby.
It was a falcon,and you could take photos with it.
They put a protective arm guard on you
and let the falcon perch on your arm, and wow, it was heavier than it looked.
Its legs were tied so it wouldn’t fly away, which was a little sad to see.
While we were waiting there,
a few vendors came by trying to sell scarves,
but it didn’t feel aggressive or pushy, so no need to worry.
When we went back to the car after 10 minutes,
our guide was letting air out of the tires.
For dune bashing,
if the tires stay fully inflated,
the car can sink into the sand
or even flip on steep slopes, according to him.
Once everyone got back in, we drove slowly for a bit
and then stopped at a placewhere the camels were waiting.
Camels are such a fascinating sight.
But apparently, if they bite you,
you can get sick or infected through their saliva,
so they all had muzzles on.
As long as you don’t seriously annoy them, they seemed pretty gentle.
The camel guide
assigned us our spots and helped us climb on.
Two people could ride together,
so my husband and I rode on the same camel.
The guest from India rode in front,
and honestly, if you want the best photos,
the front camel probably gets the best angle.
A camel’s back is higher than it looks, so it was surprisingly thrilling.
Those long legs, seriously.
We didn’t go very far,
just a short loop nearby,
and the whole thing, including stopping for photos and getting off, took only about 10 minutes.
When we stopped at the photo spot,
the guide automatically took pictures for each group.
He wasn’t exactly a photography genius,
but since camels are so tall,
it probably isn’t easy to frame them well anyway.
He even got his finger in one of our shots.
Still, he took a bunch of photos
in both landscape and portrait, so I appreciated the effort.
So this feels like the perfect time to talk about
Dubai desert safari outfit, styling, and fashion tips.
Dubai desert safari outfit tips
This is based on an early October morning tour.
If you’re riding a camel, pants are definitely better than a skirt.
For shoes, sandals or flip-flops are better than sneakers, because sand gets trapped in sneakers forever.
For photos, white or really bold colors like bright red or green looked especially pretty in the desert.
Personally, I didn’t think long sleeves versus short sleeves mattered much, but there’s basically no shade, so if you hate direct sun, wear something with more coverage.
I don’t think a hat or headscarf is absolutely essential, so bring one if it suits your style.
People kept saying to bring a scarf because sand gets in your mouth, but when we went, there was literally no wind at all.
If you’re doing the evening tour, bring a light layer since the temperature swing can be pretty big.
After the camel ride, we had a quick
photo session with the camels and then got back in the car.
Next, we headed to the sandboarding area.
They said the dune bashing would happen on the way there,
but at first the driving felt way too tame.
So I said in Korean,
“Wait, this is dune bashing?”
and the driver suddenly went full speed.
The intensity really doesn’t come through in photos or video.
They say desert driving isn’t something just anyone can do
and that drivers need a special license,
and honestly, I believe it.
If I had been driving, I probably would have rolled the car.
Even the guy in front was gripping the handle for dear life.
Just in case, we had taken chewable motion sickness medicine
about 30 minutes earlier,
and maybe that helped, because I didn’t feel carsick at all.
After about 20 minutes of thrilling driving,
we arrived at a base on top of the highest dune.
This is where you can go sandboarding,
grab a drink, and take photos.
Looking down below,
I even spotted a couple doing wedding photos.
A desert wedding shoot would be exhausting, but the pictures would look incredible.
No matter how many times I looked around, the landscape felt unreal.
I never imagined I’d end up in a Middle Eastern desert in my lifetime,
and it turned out to be such a fun experience.
No matter which direction you turn,
it’s just 360 degrees of that same magical view.
I heard the sand gets really hot in the afternoon,
but since we went in the morning, it was only mildly warm.
All-black looked amazing out there, honestly.
Was it the background that looked incredible, or the model? Who knows.
Watching the cars move in the distance,
they looked a little like tiny bugs, which was oddly cute.
Then it was time to try sandboarding.
I decided to watch other people go first.
Everyone wiped out at least once in the beginning,
but they figured it out pretty quickly.
I kind of wished they also had sacks or sled-style boards
so you could sit and slide down, but no such luck.
The dune here was pretty tall, so the ride down was long,
and climbing back up was completely on you.
My husband had a blast going down,
but it took him forever to climb back up.
And then… the tragic ending for someone with zero coordination.
My mom saw the video and said I looked
like an overturned beetle flailing around.
The board didn’t slide that well, and if I’m going to defend myself,
I’d say it probably needed more wax.
Between the blazing sun
and the climb back up, I only did it once or twice.
But honestly, who cares if you’re not good at it?
As long as you get great photos, that’s a win.
I loved the pictures so much I even changed my profile photo.
We took solo back-shot photos of each other too,
and the other Korean traveler kindly took some rare couple shots for us.
I even took one ridiculous photo of my ugly toes.
We came back with so many desert photos.
After playing on the dunes for a while,
once everyone felt like they’d had enough,
we just talked it over and said, “Okay, let’s head back.”
I was getting so hot and tired that I really wanted to leave,
but luckily the other two guests were easygoing too,
and they weren’t obsessed with taking endless photos,
so we wrapped up pretty quickly and headed back.
We returned to the same waiting area from the beginning,
looked around the souvenir shop, and called it a day.
They were selling Dubai’s popular sand art in glass bottles,
but do not buy it here.
I don’t remember what size it was,
but here they quoted 120 dirhams,
while the same size at the Gold Souk was 55 dirhams.
If you buy it in the excitement of the moment, you’re absolutely overpaying.
That said, the colors here were a little prettier.
They also had bracelets where they engraved your name,
but I was like… do I really need to do that here?
It didn’t feel especially connected to the Dubai desert experience.
Anyway,
that’s how we wrapped up a desert safari I’d always wanted to do at least once.
Back at the hotel, we washed the sand out of our hair and off our bodies
and immediately passed out for an hour or two.
Total time, from leaving the hotel to getting back,
was about 3.5 hours. That felt pretty reasonable.
I actually think the morning tour is a great choice
because you get back early, rest a bit, and still have the afternoon free for sightseeing.
If you’re traveling to Dubai and Abu Dhabi,
I definitely recommend making time for the desert at least once.